Interview with Ivy Atoms

​Tell us a bit about you and your creative practice.

I’m Ivy and I’m a multidisciplinary artist. I make drawings, paintings, comics, illustrated stories, zines, video, sculpture—and I want to learn more. My art is trying to express this weird science fiction feeling that comes with living as myself. I am neurodivergent and I also struggle with mental illness. Making art is extremely crucial in communicating through this and about this. Collaborating and sharing with other artists is also my favorite mode of communication.

​​My influences are varied. I have so many favorite contemporary artists and friends, but what has shaped my style most is access to the internet. Learning my queerness thru the internet gave me a strong and authentic connection to the images and aesthetic of the communities that taught me and fostered my growth. Furry fandom, yaoi and yuri scanlations and message boards, fanfiction and even fetish art were some of the first/only media representation of queer people I saw growing up. These images and these feelings had an irreversible effect haha!

How does San Jose come through in your creative work?

San Jose is a very futuristic place. Don’t y’all look out the window sometimes and think, shit—I am living in the future? For better or for worse, I mean. San Jose will do that to you. It’s uncanny having grown up here and seeing it change. The anxiety of rapid development as well as the promise in new technology often appears in the sci-fi I write and draw.

In talking to San Jose artists, the issue of SPACE often comes up. What is your workpace like?

I have a very messy desk in the corner of my room. I used to have a studio at Ross-turned-pop-up-disappointment Local Color. There is where I painted my first and only mural so far. Working big is so freeing and fun--San Jose artists deserve permanent places where we can make art that requires more space than a small desk or kitchen table, whether that's murals or music shows, or the art that is just surviving. affordable live/work spaces now!!

Is San Jose a creative wasteland?

Not at all. There are so many brilliant people making art here. People are really taking it into their own hands, especially with zines/self publishing. Being on the organizing team for SJ ZineCon was such an inspiring (if tiring) experience. ​South Bay DIY Zine Collective's library is growing proof of many SJ zinesters work. It doesn’t surprise me that zines are continuing to bloom in San Jose. We are resilient archivists of our experiences.

​ However as far as visual art, (or “fine” art lol) I really wish there were more. The few established galleries here seem to show the same artists on rotation year after year instead of fresh talent. The best and newest artwork gets shown in coffeeshops and bars (shoutout SpaceB and SoPo)—but we deserve more room! Seeing Things, which shows local and out of town artists and curates an amazing wall of zines, had to move to a smaller, less central location, which they now share with another business. Space continues to be a problem, and art only grows. This is our home. We live here all the time, not just for the pop-up.

What is one place in San Jose that inspires your creativity and why?

I live very close to the Guadalupe River. I feel lucky to get to experience nature in a big city. Possums crawl up and eat the cat's food.